I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of data storage and retrieval, and more specifically to rapidly searching records using multidimensional indexing.
II. Description of the Related Art
Current data storage on a number of systems, such as medical systems, product/inventory systems, and the like, tend to be slow when retrieving data records. As an example, certain types of medical records are stored and retrieved using an online or “cloud” storage component. In typical operation, a user may wish to obtain a medical record for a patient or an inventory part record, or other record, and may enter appropriate information on his or her local device. The local device then seeks the information from a remote source, such as an online or cloud source, and the record is downloaded to the user's local device. In situations where large records or large numbers of records are involved, it is not unusual for this process to take several seconds on a typical internet connection, and sometimes can take several minutes depending on various factors, including internet load and speed, size and quantity of records, processing speed and storage capability on the network, and so forth.
In the medical field in particular, solutions currently exist that require several minutes to load a patient record in certain situations. Such loading times are particularly inconvenient. Local solutions have been suggested, but the problem with some local solutions is that data and records can be updated at any time, and long delays between record updates can be problematic, and in worst case scenarios, severely detrimental to the patient. As an example, a local solution for medical records may entail obtaining all existing medical records from a central source on a regular basis, such as once a week. The user's device may obtain all records locally from a remote source. However, if the patient is prescribed drug X the following day, and a physician retrieves the record a few days later, the physician may prescribe drug Y without knowledge that the patient has also begun taking drug X.
However, most notably, the time required to retrieve records is of greatest importance. Hospital staff, medical office staff, warehouse personnel, and others with a need to obtain information from large records or voluminous records do not have time to wait minutes to perform a simple search to see if, for example, a specific crankshaft is available at the Boise, Id. warehouse. Saving minutes or even seconds, or in certain high volume situations, tenths of seconds, can be extremely valuable to persons who search records and deal with customers on a regular basis.
It would therefore be beneficial to provide a computing system that offers search capability for voluminous records that improves on search methods currently available, particularly in speed of searching. Improvements in time and overall search efficiency would be particularly advantageous in a number of situations where efficient record retrieval is of particular importance.